[2024-02-19] Timeless advice for business writing

Today, I reread a Café Jen post about a 1946 essay on writing by George Orwell. The essay—Politics and the English Language—contains advice that holds up more than 75 years later.

In sharing the essay with me, my son drew my attention to several sections of Orwell’s paper that he knew I would like, including this one:

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:
    1. What am I trying to say?
    2. What words will express it?
    3. What image or idiom will make it clearer?
    4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
And he will probably ask himself two more:
    1. Could I put it more shortly?
    2. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

Orwell’s first question—"What am I trying to say?"—has been a mainstay of my writing since I studied journalism in the mid-'80s. Whenever I find myself stalled in the creative process, I'll turn to someone (most often my daughter) and ask, "How would I say such and such?" Often, my awkward explanation of what I’m trying to say turns out to be a pretty good start, which I can usually translate into my next sentence or two.

I especially love Orwell’s advice about ensuring that whatever image we use to clarify our meaning should be fresh enough to have an effect. Poets are particularly good at imagery. The first time I read The Children's Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I fell in love with the poem. It’s about a father, working in his study, while his young daughters plot to interrupt him—something he actually welcomes.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O'er the arms and back of my chair
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

The metaphor of armchair as castle turret created such a vivid image in my mind that it stayed with me ever since.

The second passage Shane selected from Orwell's essay was this one:

I think the following rules will cover most cases:
    1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
    2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
    3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
    4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
    5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
    6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Of this list, I particularly like "If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out." As I wrote in my 2011 blog post, people don’t actually read most business communications. I quoted David Silverman, who wrote in the Harvard Business Review blog, that "Books are read. Business documents are scanned." In fact, Silverman's article How to Succeed in Business Writing: Don't Be Dickens provides additional guidance for writers of business communication.

Silverman starts by distinguishing business writing from other types of writing:

The difference between business writing and all other forms of expression is one thing: a call to action. A memo, report, business plan, email, and so on, all have in common that they ask the reader to do something, which is usually either to part with their own money, someone else’s money, or take some other action that will ultimately result in cash trading hands in a manner beneficial to the author of the document.

He offers several tips on how to ensure that your business writing includes a clear call to action:
  1. Include one point of view per paragraph. While Dickens might have written in A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...," your business communication should stick to one idea per paragraph.
  2. Say one thing with each sentence. Silverman insists: "you’re not Dickens, and you’re not trying to entertain a Victorian readership who reads by gas lamps and...you’re not being paid by the word."
  3. Tell your reader what your document is about in the first sentence. "If there’s a title or a subject line before the first sentence, tell it there," advises Silverman.
  4. Help your reader quickly find the information they need to take action. Because business documents are scanned, not read, you should use easy-to-read subject lines, headings and bullet lists—all of which help to get eyeballs on the most important content in your communication.
  5. Don't expect your reader to understand tone, humour or sarcasm. "Say what you mean to say," recommends Silverman. "Don’t expect anything to be inferred."

Following Orwell's advice to cut out unnecessary words, use short words and favour the active voice as well as Silverman's suggestions to organize content in single-purpose sentences within single-viewpoint paragraphs and to use formatting to help readers get to the pertinent stuff quickly should result in shorter texts that are less daunting for the reader to embark on. Such an approach also increases the chance that your reader will respond to your call to action.